The Mistakes Every Real Estate Investor Will Make
Mistakes are part of real estate investing.
I have done the work wrong. I have made bad decisions, lost money, hired the wrong people, and bought properties that taught me exactly what I should have been looking for instead.
Nobody wants to make mistakes. Nobody wants to lose money, lose sleep, or rebuild something that should have worked the first time.
But some of the biggest lessons in real estate come from doing something wrong.
The goal isn't to eliminate every mistake. The goal is to learn from them quickly enough that you don't keep making the same ones.
Quick Takeaways
Your Mistakes Can Help You Build Better Systems
When you use the wrong contractor, buy the wrong property, or invest in the wrong location, you gain information you didn't have before.
That experience can help you:
- Refine your buy box
- Improve your systems
- Change who you hire
- Know when to fire someone
- Improve your due diligence
- Make better decisions about locations and properties
For example, I've lost money buying houses in areas that were too far away from where people were actually buying houses.
That experience helped me understand why location matters to my investment criteria.
The mistake wasn't useful because losing money was good. It was useful because I learned from it and changed what I was willing to buy.
That's an important distinction.
You don't want to repeat the mistake. You want to extract the lesson.
Education Can Help You Avoid Some Mistakes
You don't have to make every mistake yourself.
One of the ways you can reduce unnecessary mistakes is by getting educated before and while you're doing the work.
That can mean courses, coaching, books, audiobooks, events, or learning directly from investors who are already doing deals.
Education doesn't mean you should spend years studying before taking action.
I actually encourage people to start doing the work while they're learning. Make the calls. Talk to sellers. Make offers. Respond to people.
That's where a lot of the learning happens.
I've paid for coaches myself because I want to know what's working for other people and avoid doing something wrong for too long.
The key is implementation.
Education only becomes valuable when you take what you learn and put it into action.
You Don't Have to Do Your First Deal Alone
Another way to reduce unnecessary mistakes is to partner with people who have experience.
You don't have to do your first deal completely on your own.
Maybe you have capital but don't have experience. Maybe you have found a deal but need someone who knows how to structure it. Maybe you can spend time learning from somebody who is already flipping houses or buying rentals.
Partnerships can give you an opportunity to watch how other investors operate.
Go to a flip. Ask questions. Listen to someone's story. Study what went wrong and what they would do differently.
You can learn from someone else's failure without having to experience the exact same failure yourself.
That doesn't mean you'll never make your own mistakes.
You will.
But you can potentially avoid some expensive lessons by paying attention to what other investors have already experienced.
Track Your Failures So You Don't Repeat Them
This is one of the simplest things you can do as an investor: keep track of your failures.
If you don't record what went wrong, you're more likely to repeat it.
Maybe you paid a contractor too early and lost money.
Write it down.
Maybe you bought a certain type of property and couldn't make the numbers work.
Write it down.
Maybe you bought in a location that looked good on paper but didn't have enough demand.
Write it down.
Then look for patterns.
Once you recognize a pattern, make an adjustment.
Maybe you need to buy the next property cheaper. Maybe you need a different contractor. Maybe you need to eliminate an entire type of property from your buy box.
The important thing is that the mistake changes your behavior.
If you keep making the same mistake and expecting a different result, you're not actually learning from it.
Failure Doesn't Mean You Should Stop
There will be times when you do things correctly and still don't get the result you wanted.
A property can be handled properly and still not sell immediately.
You can find what looks like the perfect tenant and still have problems.
Real estate has variables you can't completely control.
What you can control is whether you keep doing the work.
Keep talking to sellers. Keep making offers. Keep networking with other investors. Keep learning. Keep journaling and reviewing what happened.
Over time, you can start stacking wins on top of the lessons from your failures.
That's how I look at real estate investing.
I don't expect everything to go perfectly. I expect to learn, make adjustments, and keep moving forward.
The mistakes hurt when they happen. But if you use them to improve your criteria, systems, and decision-making, they can become part of the experience that makes you a better investor.
Key Takeaways
- Mistakes are inevitable: Every investor will eventually make decisions that don't work.
- Extract the lesson: A mistake becomes valuable when it changes how you operate.
- Get educated: Learn from courses, coaches, books, events, and experienced investors.
- Use partnerships: You can learn by watching and working with people who have already made mistakes.
- Track your failures: Document what went wrong so you can identify patterns.
- Make adjustments: Change your criteria, systems, team, or strategy when the evidence tells you to.
- Keep doing the work: Failure doesn't mean you should stop taking action.
FAQs
What are some common real estate investing mistakes?
Common mistakes discussed here include hiring the wrong contractors, paying contractors before work is completed, buying properties in poor locations, and purchasing properties outside your investment criteria.
How can real estate investors avoid mistakes?
Education, coaching, partnerships, and learning from other investors can help reduce unnecessary mistakes. However, every investor will eventually have to learn some lessons through their own experience.
Should I get educated before investing in real estate?
Education can help you understand the fundamentals and avoid some mistakes, but it shouldn't necessarily prevent you from taking action. Learning while making calls, talking to sellers, and making offers can be part of the process.
Why should real estate investors track their failures?
Tracking failures helps you identify patterns. Once you recognize what repeatedly goes wrong, you can adjust your buy box, systems, team, or decision-making process.
Do I have to do my first real estate deal alone?
No. Partnerships can allow newer investors to work with people who have experience, capital, or other resources. Learning from experienced investors can also help you avoid some unnecessary mistakes.
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About Johnoson Crutchfield
Johnoson Crutchfield is a real estate investor, coach, and host of the Grab the Map podcast. He helps aspiring and active investors move beyond analysis paralysis and take the consistent actions required to close real estate deals.
Drawing from years of hands-on experience, Johnoson teaches practical, real-world strategies focused on finding opportunities, building relationships, securing funding, and making offers. His approach emphasizes weekly execution over endless education, helping investors create momentum through simple, repeatable actions.
As the leader of the Wealth and Real Estate community, Johnoson shares lessons from real transactions and real conversations with lenders, sellers, and investors. He is a strong advocate for local banking relationships, seller financing, and private lending as powerful tools for growing a real estate business.
Through coaching, content, and community, Johnoson has helped investors gain clarity, build confidence, and take meaningful steps toward closing their first—or next—deal.
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